Alaska - Part 2

Monday we took a bus tour of Skagway that went up into the interior of Alaska. It was crazy foggy, so we couldn't see too much, but we had an awesome tour guide. It was very interesting to hear about the history of Skagway. The town was settled because of the Klondike Gold Rush. I guess I didn't pay attention in history because I really didn't even know there was a gold rush up in Alaska!



Tuesday we got up super early to see the Tracy Arm Fjord. It wasn't a port, so you didn't get off. But you could see amazing scenery from the boat. It reminded us of Titanic because of all the icebergs in the water!

The rest of the day we were at sea, so we played more games and all the cousins enjoyed the hot tub.



Wednesday was our final day at sea. Unfortunately I was sick with a NASTY cold, so I stayed in our room most of the day. I had started to feel a sore throat coming on Monday... Tuesday I could tell I was getting sick, but I still was able to enjoy myself. Wednesday and Thursday were absolutely AWFUL! I didn't want to get anyone else sick and I was definitely feeling bad for myself. I just kept thinking, "I saved my PTO all year for this?! BAH!"

Thursday we were in Victoria, BC. Everyone went to the gardens and said they were beautiful. Rog and I will have to go back there someday to see what we missed. He was nice enough to stay on the boat with me... I tell you what, that's true love. I didn't want to do anything, so we read our books pretty much the whole day. Rog was reading Angels and Demons and I was reading the 6th Harry Potter. I hadn't planned on reading it. In fact everyone told me not to read it before seeing the movie. But I brought it just in case and it was a good thing I did! I would have been so bored without it!

Friday we had to get off the boat. Just when I was starting to feel a little better... Our flight didn't leave until that night, so we spent the day seeing the sites of Seattle on the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. My favorite part of the day was the Seattle Aquarium. I LOVE sea otters and they had 4! In New York they only have 1, so I was in heaven with 4! They had a nice big tank to swim around in and they looked so happy. They also had river otters which I had never seen before, so that was cool.

Saturday we did our laundry at the Ford’s and then headed back to Provo. We decided to pretend we were still on vacation. We went to Cafe Rio for dinner and then we finally saw Harry Potter. I really enjoyed it, but the differences between the book and the movie were VERY obvious after just reading the book. I think they did a good job capturing the essence of the book, although they really should have got the details right at the end. I couldn't believe how much they deviated from the book at such an important part!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Ririe for an unforgettable vacation! It was so good to have EVERYONE together before we all go in a million directions.